1. Field of Invention
The objective of this invention is to capture hydro-kinetic energy from ever flowing ocean streams on a mass scale and then to apply (as the first priority), that energy as the prime mover for hydraulic rams. The ram could then become the prime mover in support of a sea water desalinization process, turning sea water into fresh water. This invention when housed and submerged deep in a moving body of water, such as the Gulf Stream, captures the motive forces of nature in a manner comparable to a land based hydro-powered dam as a prime mover. The ram, as the end item operating component, applies its hydraulic force to a resisting work load, such as that required to force sea water through a membrane to remove salt or as a secondary use, to apply this force to turn a turbine or series of turbines in generating electrical energy for later end item uses. After the ram's power stroke, the spent prime mover (water) which supplied the kinetic force, is then returned to the free flowing stream that is continuously moving through the conduit system for discharge by a jet pump utilizing the Venturi Principle. This is comparable to conventional land based dams which utilize draft tubes or out falls to power surface located turbines and then, to return or discharge their waste water into a tail race. The configuration and design of the conduit system in ocean streams offers almost unlimited freedom of choice for hydraulic engineers and naval architects in designing off-shore hydro-power facilities, for either the primary or secondary purpose of this enablement, which can then change velocity, mass or head pressure and volumes applied to specific work surfaces. Unlike the difficulty in locating suitable sites for a land based dam, this enablement can be located in all ocean streams moving over the earth's surface.
The application of this enablement as a matter of first priority for this invention is to provide high pressure sea water flows in support of reverse osmosis desalinization processes. It can power the equivalents of present day and future systems for removing salt from sea water, as well for other prime mover purposes.
This enablement creates an underwater all-purpose hydro-power capability, without consuming any fossil fuel or other type of non-renewable energy source and without the limitations, construction costs or adverse environmental or economic effects of comparable power sources.
Needless to say, there is an urgent need to switch from fossil fuels to those energy sources that are sustainable and non-polluting. Ocean currents flow at all depths, with the strongest usually occurring in the upper layer, which is shallow compared to the depth of the oceans. The main cause of such surface currents in the open ocean is the warming of the ocean waters by the Sun, the rotation of the Earth and the action of the wind on the sea.
The Gulf Stream starts roughly where the Gulf of Mexico narrows to form a channel between Cuba and the Florida Keys. From there, the current flows northeast through the Straits of Florida between the mainland and the Bahamas, flowing at a substantial speed for some 400 miles. It hits peak velocity off Miami, where the Gulf Stream is about 45 miles wide and 1,500 feet deep. There the current has reached a speed of as much as 7.75 mph in its narrow central axis. Although the peak current velocity of the Gulf Stream may at times exceed 7 mph in its narrow axis off of Miami, the most likely velocities for system placement in its central axis, which would most probably be between 4.75 and 6 mph.
The Gulf Stream, the Kuroshio and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current are the currents having velocities above 3 knots that flow throughout the year, the strongest currents recorded for the Gulf Stream and the Kuroshio in nautical miles per day. These speeds are equivalent to 156.5 statute miles per day (6.52 mph) for the Gulf Stream, and 133 statute miles per day (6.375 mph) for the Kuroshio. Because these speeds were determined by how far the current carried floating objects in 24 hours, they do not reflect the maximum current speeds at specific times or places.
Both the Gulf Stream and the Kuroshio are currents that are driven by the Coriolis force that is produced by the earth's eastward rotation acting upon the ocean currents produced by the trade winds. Because these currents are caused by the earth's trade winds and eastward rotation, they will continue flowing through the Straits of Florida and all others for as long as our planet continues to turn on its axis. These sources of hydro-kinetic energy are inexhaustible within the lives of man.
2. Description of the Related Art
I am aware of the following U.S. patents and patent applications pertaining to water powered devices and the like. None of the citations disclose a power system having the functional features or the capabilities of this invention. It is the marine counterpart of a land based hydro-power dam operating as a prime mover if such were submerged
within an ocean stream. Further none have a capability for industrial level output with unlimited, intrinsic potential for this unique invention. The entire prior art more or less uses mechanical approaches actuated by moving water when placed in opposition to its kinetic force. The structure of this enablement is placed in a moving stream and permits water to enter naturally and pass through, then and onward downstream without further disturbance. This is the marine equivalent of its land based cousin. Nothing like it is found in prior art.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,766,754 B1, dated Jul. 27, 2004, Ballast Exchange System For Marine Vessels by Thomas J. Scott and 7,240,631 B1, dated Jul. 10, 2007, Loop Ballast Exchange System For Marine Vessels, by Ahmed A. Al-Babtain are noteworthy. They, as opposed to using moving ocean currents as a prime mover kinetic force, use velocity of the ship when it is underway and moving to admit (force) sea water into the ballast tanks. The first named patent uses the incoming sea water to expel water from outlets at the top portions of the tank. The second named patent (loop ballast exchange) uses a one-entry-port conduit system to serve dual purposes, one is to fill and the other is to empty the ballast tanks. Drawing 3 depicts a conduit system using an incoming stream as a means of operating an Ejector system to suck the ballast water out from the bottom of the tank
and to entrain it as part of the passing main stream which then being combined is discharged out the exit ports along the side of the vessel. This discharging operation as the sea water transits through the loop exchange system and is controlled by the opening of valves within the conduit system.
Furthermore U.S. Pat. No. 7,240,631, cited above, states “As will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art, the rate at which the water is changed in the vessel's ballast tanks will depend upon a number of variable factors, including the diameter of the intake ports, diameter of the main conduit, speed of the vessel, capacity of the ejectors, and the like. The determination of these variables and the necessary calculations required to effectuate the practice of the method and apparatus of the invention in a particular ship and under specific operating conditions are well within the ordinary skill of those working in the art.” This being true as to the status of skill existing within the field of hydraulic flow management, determining such variables for my invention as would prevail under specific conditions for a theoretical site are simply a matter of calculation. Calculations as such do not change nor add to the disclosures made by a patent, the above one or mine as disclosed herein. As depicted in FIGS. 2.3 to 2.5 herein, Power Functions, derive theoretical calculations for a specific set of variables and as such predict the character and measures of the flows in simulating the operation of this invention as an equivalent electricity producing apparatus within an ocean current.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,012, dated Nov. 25, 1975, the Power Generator patented by Harry Herz, relates to a power generator apparatus for harnessing practical quantities of usable energy from water movement, such as submarine or “deep-sea” ocean currents, tidal flows and channel currents.
In this patent reference, a vast amount of energy is present in the constantly moving masses of ocean water which encircle three quarters of the earth. The obstacles which have hindered development of this energy source include not only the problem of developing an apparatus of adequately large size to convert the kinetic energy of water motion to an usable form of power such as electricity, but even more importantly, include the problems of building a structure massive enough to harness this power in practical quantities as well as the problem of positioning such an immense-sized structure in place for operation on an ocean floor.
In his patent, Herz made reference to U.S. Pat. No. 3,604,942 (1971) patented by Curtis A. Nelson, which describes a generator device intended for installation on a concrete base along a river bottom. Improving the Nelson Patent, Herz adapted a variation to increase the efficiency and practicality of the paddle turbine structure.
In his Fluid Energy Converting Method and Apparatus, U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,805 (1980), Lee Arnold presented a device relating to techniques and an apparatus for harnessing the kinetic energy of a moving fluid stream and more particularly, to a cascade of airfoils or hydrofoils oscillating in a fluid stream to produce useful work.
Arnold sought to use his device to harness alternative sources of energy to utilize the inexhaustible kinetic energy of moving fluids such as the wind streams and even the oceans. Thus, instead of the large blades used in a device such as windmills or oscillating elements (a history of such devices is contained in the Arnold patent). Arnold uses oscillating air foils to further improve on this method.
With regard to the Subsurface Wave Power Generation Water Purification Systems and Methods (U.S. Publication number 2010/0193447), the common features are that both devices have a purpose of electricity generation and desalinization functions, but the referenced patent is attached to the sea floor while my device can either rest on the sea floor or be tethered above it. The primary mover of the two devices is completely different. The referenced patent reacts to the upward rising and falling movement within the body of water. This force is simply impressed on an opposing mechanical surface. The referenced patent has no features which contain or regulate a free flowing movement of ocean current and pressure of water at a depth as the prime mover, which is the essence of my invention.
The Renewable Resource Hydro/Aero-Power Generation Plant and Method of Generating Hydro/Aero-Power (U.S. Pat. No. 6,647,717 B2) recovers energy from fluid falling downward through a tower (duct) and converts it to hydro-power, this then being applied as a means for generating electricity and desalinization of water. The referenced patent is a land based system. It is not comparable to the primary mover of my invention: the free flowing mass of kinetic energy derived from the flow of an ocean stream at a depth.
With regard to the Stable Wave Motor (U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,838), this device captures kinetic energy of wave motion occasioned by the rising and falling elevations of the sea surface as it is anchored in relation to the sea floor. This causes a vertical movement of mass in relation to the fixed positioning of the apparatus. The referenced patent and my invention both have objectives of generating electrical power and reverse osmosis desalinization of sea water. However, the primary mover of the two devices is completely different. My invention teaches the means of a free flowing regulated stream of movement and pressure at a depth into and through a structure as a prime mover of the user application.
Most of the patented inventions in the 20th and early 21st century attempting to harness the ocean for power generation have ignored key developments made in the 19th. Century. The insight for our solution comes from Clemmons Herschel's development of two patents: the Ventura Meter and the Fall Increaser (U.S. Pat. No. 873,435). The account of his thinking was given to the Harvard Engineering Society and published in the Harvard Engineering Journal.
Clemens Herschel (the inventor of the Venturi Meter) designed a head increaser where the discharge end, of a vertical, conical draft tube, was inserted into the throat of an enormous, horizontal, Venturi meter. The upstream end of the Venturi protruded into the impoundment and was gated. Its exit was into the tailrace. During normal flows, the entrance to the Venturi was closed, with its gate. The turbine discharged normally through the draft tube into the Venturi and out into the tailrace. During freshets, when the tail water was high, the gate at the mouth of the Venturi was opened. The excess floodwaters flowing through the Venturi, created a vacuum in the throat of the Venturi. Since the turbine draft tube was discharging into the Venturi throat, the turbine saw an increased pressure drop across its runner. The lost head created by the elevated tail water was effectively recovered.
The dual flow pattern principle embodied in Herschel's Fall Increaser was adapted to our submerged enablement as described herein. These insights relate to the use of multiple entry points for introducing the moving water stream (without limitations of conduit size, location or water supply) into and through and out of the power plant. This is embodied in our FIGS. 1 and 2 that relate to the prime mover conduit system. The mathematical simulation proofs for these insights (FIGS. 2.4 & 2.5, Power Functions) affirm both functionality and enormous power generation potential of this enablement. This invention permits us to manipulate the total force equation, i.e., velocity changes, mass flexibility and volume management for end item needs without ordinary restraints as to size, location, and an inexhaustible supply of hydro-kinetic energy moving across the surface of the earth. This allows the hydraulic engineer and naval architects to tailor make a prime mover (the ocean and its currents) to the widest range of hydro-power performance energy envelope.
All prior art ignores the fact that ocean currents are rivers and there is no requirement for a dam. This enablement has adapted the power plant function to be situated in the oceans of the world, while bypassing the disadvantages of a massive, expensive, stationary dam, with all of its problems. This enablement introduces the flow of the current through its structure (FIG. 1.1, Component Parts)] using the concepts of the Fall Increaser as described by Herschel in his article to the Harvard Engineering Journal. This opens up an inexhaustible moving supply to be harnessed for whatever energy needs are required.
The Free Flow Hydro-Powered Hydraulic Ram is an underwater power plant powered by the ocean, unlike any of these previously patented systems. All other attempts have failed to establish a basic hydraulic circuit in a totally submerged underwater environment. A generalized response can be made which clearly differentiates all of them from this patent application. It is my position that none of these referenced patents contain all of the elements listed below, which differentiates this invention from the prior art:
An inexhaustible body of water;
No prior art uses classic hydraulic ram technology in conjunction with electronic systems for remote control flow management in a depth of a moving body of water;
None of the prior art combines the use of hydraulics, hydrostatics, hydrokinetics, the Venturi Principle/Eductor, electronic control technologies, force multiplication and the technology to provide a highly pressurized flow of seawater to support reverse osmosis desalination processes;
The objective of this enablement harnesses the raw energy of the ocean currents, as a general purpose power source and applies this specifically as the prime mover for the hydraulic ram, which in turn provides a high pressurized flow of seawater for reverse osmosis desalinization processes.
In fact, the only common feature that all of these referenced devices possess with the invention which is the subject of this patent application is the use of moving water as a kinetic force. This invention is the perfect hydraulic circuit. It converts natural occurring kinetic energy into mechanical energy forms without any adverse effects on sea water.
Furthermore, to the extent that this enablement is used in support of the desalinization process, it assures an unlimited supply of fresh water;
In contrast, the standard forms of hydraulic rams are powered by conventional sources such as fossil fuel or electrical powered pumps. The hydraulic fluids travel through the ram at a high pressure force and are part of a hydraulic circuit. This includes a storage tank from which a prime mover draws the hydraulic fluid to be pressurized and returned back to the reservoir. In the case of this embodiment, the ocean itself is both prime mover and reservoir and avoids all problems associated with the use of fossil fuels for such purposes.